Introduction to the 10 Essential Lessons

​The Big Picture:

In order to play your favorite songs and create in a meaningful way, you will first need to train your ear and have an understanding of how music works. Your knowledge of three scales - the Major Scale, the Natural Minor Scale and the Mixolydian Scale - will serve as the basis of this understanding.

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These three scales are important for three reasons. First, the vast majority of all harmonies (triads and chords) found in songs come from these three scales. Second, the Major Scale and Natural Minor Scale are a primary source of the melodies found in songs. And third, the Major Scale and Natural Minor Scale serve as the foundation for the construction of entire songs.

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Lesson Organization:

Each lesson begins with a 'Learn & Understand' outline. This outline contains all the concepts that will be covered during the lesson. Read it to familiarize yourself with what you'll learn but know that you're not expected to understand everything. I just want you to be oriented to what you'll learn in the videos.

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The lessons are organized into segments. Each segment begins with a slide that contains a brief description of what you'll need to either 'Learn & Understand' or 'Do & Practice'. Put the video on pause to read the description then view the instruction. Because most lessons contain a combination of "Learn & Understand" and "Do and Practice" segments, it makes sense to be at your keyboard when taking each lesson.

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Following each lesson, the 'Do & Practice' outline contains everything we did together during the lesson and reminds you what you need to do while you practice. Next, the 'Learn & Understand' outline is shown again. If you need to, review it to be sure you have a good understanding of all the concepts that were presented during the lesson. Finally, any document that was on the keyboard during the lesson will appear in a bigger, easier-to-read version for you to use while you practice.

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Important items to remember:​

• The lessons are sequential. Watch each one from beginning to end and follow them in order. (Minute markers are included for your reference in the event you need to go back and watch something again.)

• Because the lessons are sequential, it's important to have a basic mastery of the material in each lesson before you move on to the next one. 

• Learn at your own pace and remember that the arts isn't a competition. Rewind and rewatch if you need to. Email me with any lesson-specific question or if you need clarification about my teaching.

• In Lessons 1 through 6, you will need to use your knowledge from each lesson to figure out things at your keyboard. This process of guided exploration is hugely important to your learning. An answer video follows each of these lessons to ensure that you've learned everything correctly.

• Since there's no note reading, I will regularly remind you to be sure you're learning and practicing 3 ways: with your fingers, with your mind, and with your ear. This is fundamental to your learning, so please do your best with this.